Outlook .OST File

[Bob]

Current Machine: Windows XP / Office XP - Laptop
Previous Machine: Windows XP / Office XP - Laptop

We have a new employee who brought all of his previous e-mail files with
him. PST, PAB etc.

He apparently used offline folders to view messages in his Inbox. He wants
information that he use to use that is in the Outlook.ost file.

I think I am fighting two domain accounts trying to use the same OST file.
When we replace the current ost with the one he brought with him Outlook
detects that the ost file was used by a different user account.

Is there anyway to get the information from the OST file to his new account?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

No. .ost files are profile specific and once the profile has been deleted,
all access to the .ost file is denied.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After furious head scratching, Bob asked:

| Current Machine: Windows XP / Office XP - Laptop
| Previous Machine: Windows XP / Office XP - Laptop
|
| We have a new employee who brought all of his previous e-mail files
| with him. PST, PAB etc.
|
| He apparently used offline folders to view messages in his Inbox. He
| wants information that he use to use that is in the Outlook.ost file.
|
| I think I am fighting two domain accounts trying to use the same OST
| file. When we replace the current ost with the one he brought with
| him Outlook detects that the ost file was used by a different user
| account.
|
| Is there anyway to get the information from the OST file to his new
| account?
|
| Thanks,
| Bob

 

[Brian Tillman]

We have a new employee who brought all of his previous e-mail files
with him. PST, PAB etc.

You may be exposing yourself to a lawsuit from the new employee's previous
employer, since it has been found in court that email sent/received while on
a job belongs to the company, not the employee. Your new employee has
stolen property and wishes to store that on your computers. Bad idea.

Is there anyway to get the information from the OST file to his new
account?

You can pay for a tool like ExchangeRecovery.
http://officerecovery.com/exchange/

 

[Bob]

I realize what you are saying is a problem. The previous employer has
assisted this person to find another job being that they have scaled down to
save money. We have other new employees that got assistance from their
employer to find employment elsewhere.

I feel in this case the IT department should of copied the messages to a pst
file. They gave him the files they just didn't make all of it useful.

What you are saying can be a problem and some employers have policies
against taking information with you. Not all situations are someone trying
to steal information.

Bob

 

[Bob]

I finally found a utility to use that recovers OST files saving as a PST.

Found the file at www.HandyArchive.com

I did a search for ost and found the utility. It is a demo but is fully
functional. I ran it and was able to get the messages, contacts etc. that
where needed.

Bob

 

[Brian Tillman]

What you are saying can be a problem and some employers have policies
against taking information with you. Not all situations are someone
trying to steal information.

I never said it was intentional. Many people don't understand the
ramifications and the theft could be inadvertent. I was speaking from your
company's liability exposure point-of-view.